1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and a system of data storage and recovery, and more particularly, to a method and a system of secured data storage and recovery for a portable storage device.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the advancement of semiconductor techniques, the capacities of memories have been increased drastically, too. Flash memory is one of the most adaptable memories for portable products (for example, memory cards or U-disks) due to its characteristics such as data non-volatility, low power consumption, small volume, and non-mechanical structure. In recent years, a solid state drive (SSD) which uses a NAND flash memory as its storage medium has been developed. In a SSD, the mechanical structure of a conventional storage device is replaced with the characteristics of a flash memory, in which data is written and erased in unit of blocks so that the access efficiency of the storage device can be greatly improved. Compared to a conventional storage device, a SSD offers lower power consumption, higher vibration proofness, high stability, and high resistance to low temperature, etc.
Memory cards, U-disks, and SSDs have been broadly used for storing personal data thanks to their small volumes, large capacities, and high portability. However, if such a storage device is lost or stolen, the data stored therein may be misappropriated. To resolve this problem, a secured area is usually disposed in such a storage device and a password is stored in the secured area. When a user connects the storage device to a host, the user has to input a password into the host in order to be authorized to access data stored in the secured area. An authentication program compares the input password with the password stored in the storage device. If the two do not match each other, the host can only access the non-secured portion of the storage device but cannot read the data in the secured area. As a result, the data in the secured area can be protected.
However, in the password authentication method described above, the password in the storage device has to be read into the host to be compared with the password input by the user. Thus, the password in the storage device may be cracked. In addition, if the user loses the storage device, the data stored therein is also lost. Thereby, data security storage method which can increase data security and provide a secured data recovery mechanism is desired.